Neither teachers nor state workers nor unions are to blame for the fiscal crisis of the state. Years of tax cuts for the richest individuals and tax avoidance by the big corporations are the real culprits.

In 1980 the top 10% of income earners accounted for 33% of the state population’s total income. Now they account for almost 50%. Disparities of income and wealth are at an all-time high. So is the state government’s revenue shortfall. There’s a connection!

The Green Party says: Don’t further burden those middle- and working-class citizens who are struggling to maintain a decent standard of living. Instead, get back to fairly taxing the bloated balance sheets of the super-rich and the “too big to fail” corporations!

Fair taxation would solve the problem of government revenue shortfalls

“General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010. The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States. Its American tax bill? None [zero taxes paid]. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.”http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/business/economy/25tax.html?pagewanted=all

“Warren Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent. Mr Buffett told his audience, which included John Mack, the chairman of Morgan Stanley, and Alan Patricof, the founder of the US branch of Apax Partners, that US government policy had accentuated a disparity of wealth that hurt the economy by stifling opportunity and motivation.”http://tusb.stanford.edu/2007/07/warren_buffet_has_a_lower_tax.html